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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint police joining the ranks of cops with Tasers
David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com By David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com
on December 27, 2013 at 7:00 AM, updated December 27, 2013 at 7:30 AM
FLINT, MI – One of the last holdouts in Genesee County is equipping its police officers with Tasers.
Flint Police Chief James Tolbert said his officers will be equipped with Tasers, a move he believes will lower the number of fights officers Flint police have with suspects.
In his first two months on the job, Tolbert said Flint police have been in as many as 10 hand-to-hand confrontations with suspects.
"I don't need my officers hurt out there," said Tolbert. "I want to find the most acceptable practice (for officer safety)."
The move will leave Davison and Flushing Township as the only police agencies in Genesee County that don't use Tasers, according to a Flint Journal survey of area police departments.
Tasers have not come without controversy with deaths linked to the device, including a Bay City teen with relatives who lived in Flint.
Brett Elder, 15, died after being Tasered in 2009 causing Amnesty International to get involved in the case that later saw his family win a $1 million settlement.
Flint attorney David Nickola, who worked on the Elder case and about a half dozen of other cases involving Taser use, said they aren't a good thing for law enforcement officers to have. They tend to be overused or misused, he said.
"It's a very dangerous weapon because it's a dice roll every time you un-holster that thing and use it because you don't know what (the suspect's) cardiac history is," said Nickola. "We didn't need Tasers before Tasers."
Flint Police Officer Union President Kevin Smith called the plan to equip Flint officers with Tasers a "great thing."
"It will reduce a lot of officers, as well as suspect, injuries," he said. "We've been advocating them for years."
Past Flint police chiefs had decided against allowing Tasers as an option, Smith said.
Flushing has had Tasers for six years but has only used them twice, said Flushing Police Chief Mark Hoornstra.
"It can be a great tool, but its not the end all to all of the problems we have in law enforcement," said Hoornstra. "You certainly can't use a Taser when you're confronted with a gunman (and) not 100 percent effective. There are a lot of circumstances where it reduces officer injuries and reduces injuries to suspect."
Locally, the American Civil Liberties Union has been critical of Taser use here.
A report issued in February by the American Civil Liberties Union criticized the Genesee County Sheriff's Department's use of the Taser in two cases, including one where a jail inmate was Tasered in 2009 while hiding under a bed.
The same month the ACLU report was released, a Genesee County inmate died not long after he was Tasered. Officials said his death was of natural causes.
The overall report criticized police departments that used the Taser, saying the frequency and manner the weapons are used are inconsistent and policies aren't always followed. It urged law enforcement agencies to adopt uniform policies that comply with federal laws and safety standards.
Sheriff Robert Pickell has said that Tasers are effective in controlling unruly behavior at the jail.
The 2009 deaths of two people following Taser use in Warren were part of the reason that police department discontinued use of the Taser in 2012, said Warren Deputy Commissioner Louis Galasso.
"We found pepper spray was just as effective," he said, noting that the Taser-use in the two deaths were appropriate. "We've never had a fatality using pepper spray."
Taser International says 75,000 people had their lives saved or avoided injuries because of it. It also said the gun has caused suspect injuries to decrease by 60 percent.
Tolbert is dismissive of studies linking Tasers to death and said he was in favor of adding Tasers for officers in his previous job in Detroit.
"For every study that says they have (caused death), there are studies that say they don't," he said.
Tolbert said he's not sure when exactly the officers will be equipped with the stun guns or how much they will cost and what model they will use. He said the department does not have enough money to have each officer be assigned one; rather they will be issued officers while on duty.
Officers will have to go through training before receiving them, he said. |
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Fri Dec 27, 2013 8:02 am |
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Crowfeeder
F L I N T O I D
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Tasers are a great tool for the law enforcement professional,I've seen their result a number of times.There is the rare MI as a result but that's not the fault of the police officer.If you have a bad heart don't screw with the cops.
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Sat Dec 28, 2013 12:08 am |
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